[Simon6776]

Hi Guys,

I am thinking of upgrading my Sony KD-32DX200U CRT for the Panasonic TH-37PX70B Plasma, but currently only have SD sources with which to feed my display. I have been advised today, that without HD, the picture quality on the Panny Plasma would be no better, and indeed, possibly worse, than on my current Sony CRT, which has put me off slightly.

The advice came from a friend, who hasn't actually seen the PX70 in action, so while it could well be the case that older Plasmas may not have boasted premuim SD PQ, would it be safe to assume that these are improving all the time, and that the latest models, such as the PX70, will have as good a PQ with SD sources, as my CRT?

I don't want to spend nearly £1000 on a plasma TV, only to find that my old CRT delivers a better PQ, so any advice would be appreciated.

[meltcity]

Panasonic's plasma range delivers some of the best SD pictures available. Whether it is good enough for you is another matter.

Viewed close up the picture will look more pixelated than a CRT, for several reasons. Firstly, the screen is bigger than any CRT, so flaws in the broadcast signal will be magnified. Second, digital displays such as plasma and LCD are fixed pixel displays and they do not flicker, unlike a CRT where neighbouring pixels blur together slightly and the slight flicker (on 50Hz models) helps to cover up flaws in the broadcast signal. Thirdly, interlaced TV signals have to be deinterlaced and scaled to the TV's native resolution; again this can impact picture quality, so there is more information on screen than on an interlaced display. The deinterlacers in most TVs leave a lot to be desired.

At normal viewing distances these problems should be much less apparent, but in the end it's up to you to demo the TV and decide if it meets your requirements.

[Simon6776]

Thanks for the reply. My Sony CRT is 100Hz, and I don't experience any flicker. I went into Comet today, and asked them to connect a PX70 to SD Freeview, and to give the guy his due, he let me fiddle with the settings for about 20 minutes, but I couldn't get anywhere near the PQ of my Sony CRT. Even on the Dynamic setting, and with the sharpness at it's sharpest, the picture looked soft and washed out. I fully believe that the PX70 is probably the best plasma on the market today, and would be amazing, driven by HD sources, but for SD, which I am currently limited to, I don't think a plasma is for me.

[puttycalla]

You're dead right.

Its nice to see someone have the intelligence to test out the tv with what they intend to view before buying.

This forum is so full of muppets who listen to hype and quality blind posters who then splash out on a plasma or LCD then start whinging on here about picture quality.

Well done!!

That plasma will still be there when you get some HD sources

[Simon6776]

Quote:

Originally Posted by puttycalla

Well done!!

Thank you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by puttycalla

That plasma will still be there when you get some HD sources

Well, that could be debatable. The price of HD sources will have to drop significantly before I could consider switching completely, and the swing seems to be going towards LCD, with fewer manufacturers producing plasmas each year. An LCD is out of the equation, because they are not very kid friendly, and it probably wouldn't last a week with toys, etc, being chucked about all over the place! That said, a lot can happen in a year, so maybe if the price of both plasmas and HD DVD players drop, I could do both next year.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon6776

Hi Guys,

I am thinking of upgrading my Sony KD-32DX200U CRT for the Panasonic TH-37PX70B Plasma, but currently only have SD sources with which to feed my display. I have been advised today, that without HD, the picture quality on the Panny Plasma would be no better, and indeed, possibly worse, than on my current Sony CRT, which has put me off slightly.

The advice came from a friend, who hasn't actually seen the PX70 in action, so while it could well be the case that older Plasmas may not have boasted premuim SD PQ, would it be safe to assume that these are improving all the time, and that the latest models, such as the PX70, will have as good a PQ with SD sources, as my CRT?

I don't want to spend nearly £1000 on a plasma TV, only to find that my old CRT delivers a better PQ, so any advice would be appreciated.

Assuming your Sony 32 is still working fine?, then I see little point in changing - the Panasonic Plasma picture quality is almost certainly going to be inferior. If the tube was getting poor?, then fair enough - the Plasma would probably give an improvement in some respects, but you'll certainly see more flaws on the picture.

I would advise waiting until the Sony dies, or becomes poor, then change!.

[skinj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon6776

Thanks for the reply. My Sony CRT is 100Hz, and I don't experience any flicker. I went into Comet today, and asked them to connect a PX70 to SD Freeview, and to give the guy his due, he let me fiddle with the settings for about 20 minutes, but I couldn't get anywhere near the PQ of my Sony CRT. Even on the Dynamic setting, and with the sharpness at it's sharpest, the picture looked soft and washed out. I fully believe that the PX70 is probably the best plasma on the market today, and would be amazing, driven by HD sources, but for SD, which I am currently limited to, I don't think a plasma is for me.

I would never run the screen on dynamic at home and certainly not with the sharpness turned up. This will exagerate the situation no end. Most of our customers seem to run the sets at about 75% brightness/40% contrast/50 sharpness.
This seems to give a really good picturewhitout making the mpeg compression stand out too much.